Eviction deadline looms for Davenport mobile home park residents

DAVENPORT — Several dozen households remain in limbo as residents grapple with the notion that, come Friday, authorities plan to shut off water to their Davenport mobile home park.

A handful of residents were packing to move Tuesday afternoon from Spring Lake Park, a small enclave bordering U.S. 17-92 just north of city limits. Advocates for the homeless were busily seeking temporary housing for families that have nowhere to go, but were mostly coming up empty.

“Affordable housing is hard to come by (in Polk County),” said Laura Lee Gwinn, executive director of the county’s Homeless Coalition. “We’ve notified everybody in our coalition about the situation, but there hasn’t been much coordination.”

Prayer is the remaining option for park residents who say they’ve been unable to find housing they can afford, not to mention the costs of moving. Their situation is the result of the park’s owners’ yearslong delinquency in paying their water bill.

Owners Henry Friebolin of New Port Richey and his son, Damon, of Davenport owe the city more than $46,000, city officials said, and they have indicated an unwillingness to work out a payment plan.

“They’re not interested, they’re not going to pay it,” Davenport City Manager Kelly Callihan said. “They’re just shutting it (the park) down.”

Callihan’s office originally intended to shut off the water Nov. 20 but agreed to wait until after the Thanksgiving holiday. Come 8 a.m. Friday, utility crews will be on site to pull the meter.

Several residents said Tuesday that they’ve been told they will be forcibly evicted Dec. 7 if they haven’t found shelter.

“We don’t have anywhere to go,” said Felipe Soto, 40, who has called Spring Lake Park home for the past six years. “I own my trailer, but I can’t move it; it’s not in any condition to move. I’ll have to live in my van.”

Soto, who gets by on limited Social Security disability income, and his fiancée, Dianel Carlo, 39, who works at a nearby fast-food restaurant, typify the plight of many neighbors who said they can’t afford moving costs, even if they could find an affordable alternative.

Susie Riggins, 56, said she pays $100 a week for her aged singlewide mobile home. She depends on her boyfriend for income, but he’s working at a Christmas tree farm in South Carolina and isn’t available to help her secure another rental home right now, she said.

Riggins packed her belongings Tuesday and prepared to move in with her niece, who resides nearby. It’s only temporary, she said, until her boyfriend returns.

“I’ve got no choice,” Riggins said. “I’m not waiting until the last minute.”

A recent influx of evacuees from hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico has contributed to a lack of affordable housing in Polk, Gwinn said, and many area social-service agencies have exhausted their funds for emergency needs by helping Puerto Ricans settle in to the community.

Gwinn called the situation in Davenport “an impending crisis,” especially for the dozen or so households with children, all younger than 10. Some Spring Lake Park residents are elderly, and others have special needs, she said.

Gwinn said she has reached out to county officials in hope of finding a short-term housing solution, “But there’s just nothing happening.”

For Paul and Margaret Sangster, residents of Spring Lake Park for the past four years, time is getting short. The couple are without a car, and haven’t the means to pay a mover to transport their belongings to Columbia, S.C., where Paul Sangster’s mother resides.

The 61-year-old said he doesn’t really want to leave Davenport, though it’s possible that his job at a local retail store may transfer to Columbia. If he can’t find assistance with moving costs, he’s not sure what he’ll do.

“We were told the shelters in Polk are totally full,” Sangster said. “But we don’t want to go into a shelter. We’re all stressed out. ... We could all use a miracle.”

Eric Pera can be reached at eric.pera@theledger.com or 863-802-7528.

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